this 38x36” portrait of mikela is in oil on linen and was painted in 1990.
tweaks to ano kato museum” / bather at yialia beach /
i made a few tweaks to ano kato museum just now, which has allowed the entire composition to sing. i worked mostly on the left portion of the composition, painting over the boring architectural details and allowing the painting to breathe, as well as giving space to the collaged elements i introduced yesterday. the touch of red in the shoulder bag the figure on the left is carrying, which seemingly minor, is critical.
12:36 PM: bather at yialia beach, 18.5x28 cm. watercolor on arches paper. this was painted last month. it’s available for purchase; email me if you’re interested: tarlowart@gmail.com.
ano kato museum / new phone /
ano kato museum, 32x32” oil & collage on linen
4PM: i did another round of work just now and will continue on friday. she’s shaping up, but not there yet.
ano kato museum, 32x32”, oil on linen, as she looked moments ago
2:44 PM: i continued work on ano kato museum over the past hour, and here’s how she looks now.
ANO KATO MUSEUM , 32x32” oil on canvas, as she looked at 2pm
1:44 PM: ano kato museum is being painted over an old 32x32” painting from 2018. this is day one, and i may do more before ending my painting day, in an hour or two.
yesterday was literrally spent on the phone with at&t, trying to figure out how to set up my new phone and get everything transferred from my old one. i’d like to get some painting done today, and i’ll update as the day progresses
work on “luck & magic” and an older, untitled painting / PAINTING OF THE MONTH /
2:46 PM: today i did some work on 2 paintings: luck & magic and an untitled painting, probably from 2022-4.
1992, 14x17” gouache on paper, /coll. the artist
10:29 AM: painting of the month is a new catagory i’m about to introduce to my site. i discovered this one while searching through my storage room in adjacent to my main studio.
"HANDS OFF" RALLY in salida yesterday / 3/26/25 ano kato /
3/26/25 ano kato, 38x32” oil & collage on portrait linen, as she looked at 12:30 today
10:33 AM: although it’s been only a day that i didn’y come to my studio, it feels like weeks have passed! so now i’m gazing at 3/26/25 ano kato on my wall and wondering where she will go next befor ei start on something new? we’ll see, as i’m just finishing my breakfast and about to get to work.
BELOW: LEFT- someone from salida posted this today on FB. RIGHT-a photo i took during the march through town at about 1pm, following the gathering in the park.
3/26/25 ano kato as she looked 2 days ago
10:21 AM: yesterday afternoon we drove up to salida with 2 friends to take part in the hands off rally.; one of hundreds that took place across the country. about 1,000 people attended in a small town with a population of about 6,000! it began in the park, where there were speakers, and then continued as a march through the town, with signs and chants. although this is but a tiny picture of what took place in towns and cities across the land, it was an indication of just how deeply we’re feeling.
"3/26/25 ano kato" /video remembering andonis polemis /
3/26/25 ano kato, oil on portrait linen, 38x32” following this morning’s grey-over
12:46 PM: i painted over everything but the figures, as well as the figur eon the upper left, leaving the 3 dancers enveloped in a warm grey. it’s so much fun painting over things that were extraneous, despite the face that i spent hours creating them.
“3/26/25 ano kato” revived / "luck and magic" refreshed / /
2:33 PM: i did a lot more work on 3/26/25 ano kato today. she’s not there yet, but i’m stopping for the day. tacked to the wall next to dancers, and now featuring 3 of the same figures, sje is looking like a next stage. the added figure of a woman ecstatically dancing with one arm thrown over hear head and bright red shoes, takes the composition to a new level of dream/fantasy. the dancers are swimming in a sea of pinks, tans and yellows.
3/26/25 ano kato 38x32” oil on portrait linen as she looked post-scrub at 10am
9:49 AM: so what do i mean when i say “3/26/25 ano kato revived?” well, yesterday she took a trip that was coming entirely from my head, and not from my heart. i thought it might be cool to do a series of taiko drummers. the key word is thought!
so i scrubbed out what i could, and the result, revealing a couple of dancing figures from the previous incarnation, is interesting; so much so that i think i’ll let it sit for a day or two and see what i feel tomorrow or saturday. it has that suggestive ambiguity i love, and exudes the fresh breath of the unplanned and “accidental.”
the circular bown marks, for example, would not go away, no matter how vigorously i scrubbed them. they are what remian of the drum that the taiko drummer was beating; an echo, one might say, of the taiko beat and rhythm.
she’s a prime example of painting as process, and an example of how, in the end, painterly marks rule.
luck & magic, 32x38”, oil on portrait linen, as she looked following this morning’s refresh
8:56 AM: i made some what i thought were tweaks yesterday to luck and magic and when i saw them this morning i knew they had to go. the paint was still fresh enough for me to wipre them out and while i was at it, i whited over the the area in the lower half of the composition, between the two figues, which was bothering the hell out of both of us.
taiko 1 /
1:21 PM: this afternoon i started work on taiko 1, 32x38”
taiko 1, 38x32” oil on portrait linen as she looked at 2pm
“luck and magic”-modification /
luck and magic, which i last worked on march 9th, needed some simplification in the area between the two figures. (BEFORE on the left)
“dancers” and 3/26/25 ano kato changes / painting fragment / the closet /
12:41 PM: i made some tweaks to dancers and 3/26/25 ano kato this morning. in 3/26/25 ano kato, above left, the changes were mostly to the fifure on the lower left, and the ochre surrounding the legs of the dancer on the upper left is new as well.
in dancers, above right, the tweaks are more subtle, but i think you can make out the two grey curves just to the right and left of the two lower figures, which help balance the composition.
fragment of a painting, date unknown, 18x22”, oil on canvas
10:49 AM: while glancing up at my studio loft area, my eye caught this fragment of a large painting on canvas, date unknown, which was rolle up. i went up with a scissors and cut out this piece, whic i think is fabulous. it measures roughly 18x22”. i temporarily mounted it on board with masking tape.
yesterday, a gallery owner from Nicosia emailed me and attached a photo of this painting, which he says he purchased recently in athens. he didn’t include info on who the seller was, but i do have a faint memory of making this painting, sometime in the mid-60’s, in my athens studio, or possibly on andros.